Stand Against Racism

These Village of Skokie employees were among the 5,000+ who participated in Stand Against Racism for the first time in Skokie & Niles Township.

In 2016, 100 local organizations (over 10,000 people!) participated in the Stand. Over 20 groups from Northwestern University made an especially large impact!

Does standing together for 15 minutes eliminate racism? Of course not. But it does allow us to see the broad range of people in this community who are committed to working toward that goal. We need each other's support to stay in the struggle, to have the hard conversations, to do the self-assessment necessary to transform ourselves and our community.

Friday, April 28, 2017

The Stand Against Racism™ is a movement of the YWCA that aims to raise community awareness of the effects of racism on all of us. We encourage schools, business, faith groups, civic & community groups, and neighbors to use the month of April to discuss issues of race, attend a Racial Equity Workshop, read up on the issue; then take part in our public stand along major streets in Evanston and Skokie/Niles Township on the last Friday in April.

How do YOU stand against racism in your day-to-day life? In what ways do you help your workplace, neighborhood, house of worship, team or family focus on being more equitable?

YWCA invites you to share the ways you’re building a more inclusive, equitable community, and to be intentional about taking a stand against racism. Here are a few quick things to get you started:

Register online for your group to participate in our public Stand Against Racism (starting in January, 2017). Last year, over 10,000 people were part of our visible stand along Ridge and Church in Evanston, and along Oakton, Gross Point and Lawler in Skokie. Please join them this year!

If you're not part of a group, come out and stand with us as an individual! (No need to register.) Join us in Evanston along Ridge Avenue and Church Street between 12:30 and 12:55 pm on the last Friday of April.

Brainstorm in your office, congregation, faculty or boardroom, about one or two ways your organization could work together to change the climate of equity and inclusion. How about one of these:

Once a week during lunch time, share a “Ted Talk” about some aspect of racial justice and discuss it together.

Attend a community meeting about matters of equity (affordable housing, closing the opportunity gap for all students, environmental racism, equitable access to jobs that pay a living wage)

Read Friends Disappear, The Battle for Racial Equality in Evanston, by Mary Barr, and find out the history of school de-segregation in Evanston.

Read Family Properties; How the Struggle over Race and Real Estate Transformed Chicago and Urban America by Beryl Satter.

Learn the statistics about how many students in your community arrive in kindergarten under-prepared, and decide what YOU can do to change that.

Encourage creation of jobs for the young people who need to get a foot on the first rung of the employment ladder.

Find out where candidates, and elected officials, stand on equity issues. Ask the tough questions, and make sure you get answers!

We hope that by the time we’re all standing together at the end of April, we will be nurturing a stronger culture of equity in our communities.

"Our school has been participating in the Stand Against Racism since 2012. This event has become a tradition with our school community, one that everyone looks forward to. Not only does it bring everyone together, but it creates rich discussions and projects around racism and diversity. The event also connects our school to the larger community and is a wonderful opportunity for our students to participate in social justice."
-Becky Crawford, Baker Demonstration School

The Stand Against Racism™ is a movement of the YWCA that aims to raise community awareness of the effects of racism on all of us. For more details about the Stand Against Racism, contact Racial Justice Program Co-Director Eileen Heineman at 847-864-8445, x158.